Denver Highlands Sustainable Home Project » mkramer

CRES Tour Presenters

mkramer — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 12:36:15 +0000

Today is the CRES 2011 Denver Area Solar and Green Homes Tour. Here are the project team members who will be onsite today to answer any questions:

Design- Build Firm

Donna Merten, President

Robert Ross, Project Architect

Pete Grant, Project Manager

Merten, Inc. 2917 17th Street; Boulder, CO 80302

720.304.0011 www.merteninc.com

GeoExchange System

Warren (Trey) Austin, PE, CGD

Geo-Energy Services, LLC, 14250 East Easter Place, Unit C; Centennial, CO 80112

303.531.5292, www.geoenergyservices.com

Landscape Design

Karla Dakin, Principal, ASLA

K. Dakin Design, 1240 LaFarge Ave; Louisville, CO 80027

303.604.2988, www.kdakindesign.com

HERS Rater

Francisco Reina, New Homes Manager

Lightly Treading, Inc., 4303 Brighton Blvd. Bldg. 3; Denver, CO 80216

303.733.3078, www.lightlytreading.com

Confirmed Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index 32

mkramer — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:48:50 +0000

The HERS Index was developed by Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET). A HERS Index of 100 represents the energy use of the “American Standard Building” while an index of 0 (zero) indicates that the building uses no net purchased energy…a lower value is better.

A projected HERS Index is based on the proposed or intended design prior to construction. A confirmed HERS Index is based on field verification and performance testing during and after construction.

Our projected HERS Index was 31. With a slightly smaller 4.9Kw versus the originally planned 5.17Kw solar PV system, our confirmed HERS rating is 32, which means our home is approximately 68% more energy efficient than the HERS reference home (American Standard Building).

We are doing things to lower our energy consumption beyond what the HERS computer software can capture. These include harvesting daylight from our many windows and solar tubes by not turning on lights and allowing the cool evening Colorado air to come in our windows at night during the summer months.

Our First Xcel Energy Bill indicates we are on the right track.

At the time we submitted information for the CRES 2011 Denver Area Solar & Green Homes Tour, our testing had resulted in a confirmed HERS Index of 38. Francisco Reina, Lightly Treading, Inc., since determined the Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) air flow had inaccurately been recorded. The vane anemometer originally used was not designed for low flow (residential) use. The second reading was taken with an Alnor 6200 Lo-Flo balometer.

Reclaimed Wood

mkramer — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:37:11 +0000

The original house had already been demolished when we purchased our lot. The wood fence; however, was still standing in some areas with the remaining panels stacked along the property line.

We reassembled the fence to enclose the backyard and used the left over parts to build a new fence at our patio. The aged wood has character and warmth which goes well with our Reclaimed Brick.

Completion Photos

mkramer — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:08:34 +0000

Living Room

Kitchen

Exterior Patio

Greenhouse / Dining Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

AV Room 01

AV Room 02

Sasha's Bedroom

Guest Bedroom 01

Guest Bedroom 02

Exterior South Elevation

Exterior North Elevation

We have enjoyed being in our new house for over two months. Although we are glad to be complete with construction, we’ll miss working with the Merten, Inc. team. In all ways, this project has been a huge success.

These wonderful photos were taken by Daniel O’Connor Photography & Digital Media. Daniel spent several days with us exploring the angles, lighting and props to best capture the essence of our house. His spontaneous style and enthusiasm was energizing.

First Xcel Energy Bill

mkramer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:09:41 +0000

We received our first Excel Energy bill reflecting one full month of living in the house.

We used a total of 532 kW – $63.98 to keep 4,293 SF of finished space cool and to run our electrical appliances.

I should note our Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System is not yet installed. Once the 4.9 kW system is operable, we expect to generate enough electricity to offset what we use based on this first billing.

We operated our GeoExchange System during the day to keep the indoor temperature around 72-degrees – then turned it off at evening and opened our windows.

We have since raised our settings to 74-degrees and have switched our Water Furnace Envision Series system to the economizer setting. This setting causes the furnace to simply move air at the beginning of a demand cycle without turning on the compressor – allowing cooler air from other areas in the house to satisfy a zone that might be calling for a cooler temperature.

Composting

mkramer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:19:44 +0000

Composting is a part of our overall plan to use less energy and create less waste.

After researching online, we decided to try the ComosTumbler system. The 68-gallon barrel rotates with a side crank allowing the material to mix. Vents keep air flowing and excess water draining.

For our first batch, we used weeds, grass clippings and shredded newspaper – we are about 5 days into the process.

We are storing our waste in a standard compost bin between batches.

Growing Outdoors

mkramer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:11:29 +0000

As a part of our Final Permaculture Landscape Plan, we included a conventional raised bed area for summer and fall vegetables. We moved in just in time to plant tomatoes, squash peppers and eggplant.

The raised beds are positioned for southern exposure and are also sitting at the lowest point of our site. Rain water as well as any excess irrigation flows from all sides of the house to this point.

Growing Indoors

mkramer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:57:26 +0000

Even with the sun high in the summer sky, our first vegetables appear to be receiving enough light and heat in our Greenhouse / Dining Room.

We started out with cucumbers and a cherry tomato plant. The tomato plant in the greenhouse is twice the size of the one I planted at the same time outdoors.

For we our indoor vegetables, we are using the EarthBox system. We have peppers, chard and herbs on the patio which we’ll move indoors once the temperature drops.

Certificate of Occupancy

mkramer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:22:44 +0000

On Wednesday, June 29th at 12:45 PM, we received verbal approval from our City of Denver building inspector to move in. At 12:50 PM, the Amazing Moves team was unloading our belongings into our house.

The Certificate of Occupancy was issued the next day.

On the night before our move, we received confirmation that our house would be on the CRES 2011 Denver Area Solar & Green Homes Tour – Saturday, September 24th from 9 AM to 4 PM.

Past tours had given us ideas for our project.

Progress Toward the Finish Line

mkramer — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:34:49 +0000

Progress Image 01

Progress Image 02

Progress Image 03

Progress Image 04

Progress Image 05

Progress Image 06

Progress Image 07

We are getting close to the finish line now. Merten, Inc. and all of our subcontractors have been working long hours and weekends preparing for final inspections with the City of Denver this week.

Our plan is to have final sign-off by Wednesday morning – and move in the same day.

Wish us all luck!